1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved semi-rigid plastic carrier for carrying a plurality of filled and capped glass or plastic bottles from the upper portions thereof. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved carrier of the aforesaid type which may be used to advantage when the bottles are capped with thermoplastic closures.
2. Description of Related Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,094 describes a semi-rigid plastic carrier for carrying a plurality of filled and capped glass or plastic bottles from the upper portions thereof. In such a carrier each bottle is retained by a circular array of yieldable tabs that engage the underside of the cap of the bottle to retain the bottle in the carrier until such time as a user desires to remove the bottle by pulling it through the array of tabs. Each bottle receiving opening of the carrier of the aforesaid U.S. patent is shown as having four of such tabs with adjacent tabs being separated by an enlarged space whose inside diameter exceeds the outer diameter of the closure to be inserted in such opening, and with the width of each such space being almost as great as the width of the inside edge of each of the tabs which it separates. Carriers of the aforesaid type have been widely used in the packaging of filled bottles which are capped with 28 mm aluminum roll-on closures of the various types which have been widely utilized in the beverage industry for the past several years. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,601,273 (Kutcher) and 4,007,851 (Walker).